Matadors Sweep Sunday Tri-Dual Over HCU, Boise State

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The CSUN beach volleyball capped a six-match weekend by posting wins over Houston Christian and Boise State on Sunday at the CSUN Beach Volleyball Complex. The Matadors (5-3) have won four of the six matches on their current eight-match homestand which concludes Tuesday against Concordia and Hope International.

CSUN 4, HCU 1
The Matadors and Huskies met for the first time to open Sunday's tri-match. HCU picked up its only point of the day as Kristen Kleymeyer and Linday Harris swept Emily Sparks and Mikaela Maughan at No. 2 by the score of 21-18, 21-13. Seyvion Waggoner and Mac McCarthy pulled the Matadors even in the No. 4 pair, taking a three-set win (18-21, 21-9, 15-10) over Shelby O'Neal and Paige Palmer. The exhibition (No. 6) pair did not finish as CSUN's Abigail Alvarez and Kinley Lindhardt split two sets against HCU's Victoria Kenney and Elena Ren.

True McCullough and Victoria Rogers gave the Matadors a 2-1 lead as CSUN took the No. 3 pair over Abbey Bufkin and Abbey Reinard, 21-18, 21-13. Lauren Eknoian and Tasha Mae then clinched the win by going the distance to to win the No. 1 pair over Allison Stanfill and Maddie Butters, 18-21, 21-14, 21-19. Abbey Sweeting and Gabriela Griego made it 4-1 CSUN as the Matadors' No. 5 pair also won in three sets over Mary Alper and Kylann Griffith by the count of 21-19, 18-21, 15-12.

CSUN 3, BOISE STATE 2
After Boise State defeated HCU 3-2 in the middle dual, the Matadors and Broncos and Matadors met for the second straight day. Boise State claimed a 3-2 decision on Saturday before CSUN won by the same score on Sunday. The Matadors jumped out to 2-0 lead when Sparks and Maughan earned a 21-16, 21-18 victory over Kaylee Mejia and Lily Patock. The win was the 54th career individual win for Maughan who took over as the program's record holder with her 53rd win against the Broncos on Saturday. Waggoner and McCarthy then went three sets to hold off Joey Benson and Emilia Guerra-Acuna (21-18, 20-22, 15-11) in the No. 4 pair. The Broncos won the exhibition pair as Aris Vetter and Sharli O'Neil took three sets to get by Abigail Alvarez and Kinley Lindhardt, 21-12, 21-17, 15-12.

The Matadors clinched their second win of the day and their first over Boise State since 2015 when Sweeting and Griego swept Anika Christensen and Abbie Wolf, 21-13, 21-16 in the No. 5 pair. The Broncos would capture the final two pairs of the day as Rori Chartier and Ava Anderson posted a 21-13, 21-16 win over Rogers and McCullough in the No. 3 pair and Sierra Land and Madison Nichols defeated Eknoian and Mae in three sets (15-21, 21-15, 15-8) to make the final score 3-2.

COACH ARI HOMAYUN SAID
"Really proud of the girls for how they battled today. More importantly, they implemented instruction incredibly well. We talked about what we needed to work on after yesterday and they came out motivated and disciplined today and it paid off. The beauty of beach volleyball and having five pairs compete is that there are opportunities to pick up the slack when one pair is struggling and we did that today. The girls showed up for each other and put in a collective effort to beat some well-trained and well-coached teams. I'm excited to see this group continue to grow and we have another opportunity on Tuesday."

UP NEXT
The Matadors conclude an eight-match homestand this Tuesday, hosting Concordia and Hope International in a tri-dual beginning at 9 a.m.

CSUN 4, HCU 1
#1 - Eknoian/Sparks (CSUN) def. Stanfill/Butters (HCU) – 18-21, 21-14, 21-19
#2 - Kleymeyer/Harris (HCU) def. Sparks/Maughan (CSUN) – 21-18, 21-13
#3 - McCullough/Rogers (CSUN) def. Bufkin/Reinard (HCU) – 21-18, 21-13
#4 - Waggoner/McCarthy (CSUN) def. O'Neal/Palmer (HCU) – 18-21, 21-9, 15-10
#5 - Sweeting/Griego (CSUN) def. Alper/Griffith (HCU) – 21-19, 18-21, 15-12
Exh. - Alvarez/Lindhardt (CSUN) vs. Kenney/Ren (HCU) - DNF

CSUN 3, BOISE STATE 2
#1 - Land/Nichols (BOISE) def. Eknoian/Mae (CSUN) – 15-21, 21-15, 15-8
#2 - Sparks/Maughan (CSUN) def. Mejia/Patock (BOISE) – 21-16, 21-18
#3 - Chartier/Anderson (BOISE) def. McCullough/Rogers (CSUN) – 21-13, 21-16
#4 - Waggoner/McCarthy (CSUN) def. Benson/Guerra-Acuna (BOISE) – 21-18, 20-22, 15-11
#5 - Sweeting/Griego (CSUN) def. Christensen/Wolf (BOISE) – 21-13, 21-16
Exh. - Vetter/O'Neil (BOISE) def. Alvarez/Lindhardt (CSUN) - 21-12, 21-17, 15-12

#GoMatadors

Matadors Sweep Sunday Tri-Dual Over HCU, Boise State

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Players Mentioned

Abigail Alvarez

Lauren Eknoian

Gabriela Griego

Kinley Lindhardt

Tasha Mae

Mikaela Maughan

Mac McCarthy

True McCullough

Victoria Rogers

Emily Sparks

Abbey Sweeting

Seyvion Waggoner